The sea gave back its treasure today!

smokeythecat

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I went to my new favorite spot in Delaware for the past 3 days. Please read on, you won't be disappointed. The site was where the British ships "The Three Brothers" sank ca 1770 and on September 2, 1785, after a fierce storm the "Faithful Steward" sank with about 270 people on board, immigrants heading to the new American State to start new lives. All the women and children, and many of the men died, about 200 all told. They were buried on the beach. I had heard about the spot years ago, but never bothered to go. The "cargo" was reportedly halfpennies and back 20 years ago, who wanted a halfpenny? I already had some.

This year was different. Late in the summer I started detecting after a zillion year absence. I did get a few nice pieces, but after Hurricane Sandy I got nothing. Everybody else seemed to be getting stuff, but I got nothing. Then a few weeks ago I started finding some NICE coins, 18th century coins and modern American silvers. I mean really nice....

I got fed up at work and took a mid winter "vacation" Thursday thru Today. Thursday, I detected about 6 hours and found 1 new penny, 1 new dime, a cell phone and a car fob to unlock somebody's car. Whoops! Also got some amazing shells, Thursday the shells were "in". One conch was 9" long and it perfect shape.

Friday started out better. I got 15 or so pieces of brass (copper) ships plating, one piece was 6" x 6", the biggest I have found so far. I found about 6 modern coins and 1 colonial brass button. The brass button is significant, due to the fact that they were not carrying clothing as cargo, so it more then likely came off of one of the deceased. I also got a large pewter "thing". I have to clean it up some but it's very old. On the way out I dipped a little closer to the water's edge and got a loud signal. 3" down was a 1784 Irish penny. Definately from the wreck. That's what they were carrying. So it was a good day. hiberniajan12.jpg hiberniajan12a.jpg

Today started out very foggy and dreary. However it was close to 50 degrees at sunup! It rained heavily last night. I got there at sunrise, because I just get up early. Truged to the beach, it was high tide (I knew that beforehand.) The shells were gone. The sea had taken them back. I went past the point where I had been detecting the previous two days, heading north toward the old Life Saving Station. There were no targets anywhere. Having stated a 7 am, it's now close to 8:30 and all I have is 2 pulltabs. Where did all that little brass go? I tried pulling more out of the same area and there were no targets anywhere. So after having walked a mile or more, I turned back toward the inlet. The sun had come out and was burning off the fog. It's 8:45 am and actually starting to get warm out. I passed by two pieces of fishing gear. No targets whatsoever. Not even a pulltab collection. No bottlecaps. Zip. I passed what used to be a really nice set of pliers, now rusted. Left them there. Walked ten more feet and I saw it before the machine did. There was one of those annoying peel off gold inserts you see on some of the single serving milk jugs they sell in convenience stores. Well, I spotted it on top of the ground just as the machine went over it and had a machine-cow. Yes, I see it. So I stopped and kicked it with my left foot over to the right. At which point, it flipped in the sand and I realized that little tab on the back of the bottle seal wasn't there. And the thing looked "funny." And the thing had a design on it. (note to self: do not leave glasses in car). So I stopped, pulled up my bucket I sit on ( and carry stuff out with), and stare at this little gold colored thing on the top of the ground. So I picked it up and realized it was a coin. But there is no way in creation (or outside of it), you can find a gold coin on the top of the ground. Let's get real, ok? So "can't see squat" turns it over and over and over looking for the word "copy". It's not there. And it's heavy. And the edge is serrated. And I sat down on the bucket and cried like a baby. See the next post, below for the pics.
 

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Megalodon

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Smokey - that coin legend on the obverse is Louis LeGrande or roughly, Louis the Great, another name for Louis XIV of France, 1643-1715. I am almost certain that it is a brass jeton, a sort of patriotic token. Does it seem more brass than bronze to you? I'll let you know if I can find an exact attribution for that reverse - there are hundreds of them.
 

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smokeythecat

smokeythecat

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FloridaSon, for reasons known only to God, I bought a Tesoro Cibola the summer BEFORE Hurricane Sandy. That was the summer of 2012. I went to that beach and found a few of the tacks, nails, not a lot of anything. At that time the people in charge of the universe were tearing down the old Indian River Inlet bridge. Sandy came through and brushed past in October of that year. I was there on the first three days and found...nothing! People were finding coppers all around me. Dozers were everywhere trying to rebuild the dunes.

THEN...the day before Thanksgiving I finally found one...by the end of the day I had three. This kept up, most days I would get one, through April 2013, or something like that. The findings fell off quickly and my last copper came in 2015.

Dozers were back this fall and I got the 2 eight reale cobs following where they had been working. It's been really hard the last few years. We need a good, a very good storm. We just haven't had any this year. A "cut" of even a few feet doesn't help these days as there probably is 10' or more sand over any coins on the beach. Once upon a time ago hundreds could be found in a day, but not anymore.
 

Megalodon

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Solis Opus refers to the Sun - and Louis was the "Sun King". It is possible the jeton has something to do with alchemy with the Sun along with the Sun King. More research....
 

MadTom

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Nice for nd. Love the story. Voting banner
 

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smokeythecat

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Megalodon, it sure looks like brass and not copper. From the beach, it's quite eroded. MadTom thanks. I already have a banner up so can't get another, but thank you. I just like playing in the dirt...and sand.
 

Megalodon

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Smokey - haven't found an exact match and now falling asleep looking thru hundreds (thousands?) of jetons. Maybe you'll have better luck in this catalog:
Monnaies Jetons Royaux Louis XIV (1643-1715) Comptoir Des Monnaies Numismatique

Its also possible that it is not in the catalog although there are hundreds in the catalog, page after page....
Are you a member of ANA? I used to be and their library is excellent.
 

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smokeythecat

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No I"m not a member of the ANA. I will peruse the catalog. But not tonight, my eyes are done for the day.
 

jeff of pa

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Good thing I Checked :coffee2:

Thought this was a new post for Second :laughing7:

I'l love to get back down there now that I can Walk without Pain & Loss of Breath.
 

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smokeythecat

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Jeff, you just wait. Taking my new Tesoro Tejon and PI machine to a Civil War battlefield Saturday, a friend's permission, and hope to kick some proverbial, well, you know what.

Sorry to hear about your health. Glad it's better, I'll pm you if I think conditions are right. Any year. I hope one day this spring we will get a REAL storm that will shake things up, other than that, it would be in the fall. I can't do hills anymore. Climbing up is no problem but my legs are very shaky coming back down. I can't even do 1 step on a ladder, but flat ground, let me at it! No problems breathing, but BP was horrid, but I figured out how I was screwing up and fixed it in 48 hours. One of the things I was eating had way too much salt in it, so now that item is bye bye.

Getting old isn't for sissies.
 

Megalodon

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jeff of pa

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Jeff, you just wait. Taking my new Tesoro Tejon and PI machine to a Civil War battlefield Saturday, a friend's permission, and hope to kick some proverbial, well, you know what.

Sorry to hear about your health. Glad it's better, I'll pm you if I think conditions are right. Any year. I hope one day this spring we will get a REAL storm that will shake things up, other than that, it would be in the fall. I can't do hills anymore. Climbing up is no problem but my legs are very shaky coming back down. I can't even do 1 step on a ladder, but flat ground, let me at it! No problems breathing, but BP was horrid, but I figured out how I was screwing up and fixed it in 48 hours. One of the things I was eating had way too much salt in it, so now that item is bye bye.

Getting old isn't for sissies.


yea I'm no fan of hills either.

Can be back breaking going up & Down
And Precarious & ankle breaking going Sideways.

Good Luck Saturday !
 

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Kona Koma

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What history and finds. Good job.
 

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smokeythecat

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Now I have to find the rest of the buttons from the site and a few other things I remember. I may have put them in a riker box, which is EXACTLY what I think I did, and if so, I know just where it is! More pics tomorrow.
 

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smokeythecat

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Well , it’s now Friday and I will have the pics up fairly soon. Had to go out on some errands.
 

Megalodon

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That was least 10 stays at the local hotel, 8,000+ miles on the truck and a quadzillion hours on that little strip of sand.

I stopped going to Coin Beach after wasting a lot of time and miles after hurricanes and big storms - when I'd drive all the way only to be kept from the beach by the National Guard, state police, or park personnel. I don't care if they want to eyeball me like a potential looter, but it would be nice to walk the beach. Sometimes I drove out there every day for a week, only to be turned away each time. I got to be on a first name basis with those keeping me from the beach. In some cases, there was so much regional flooding that my backup plans were shot as well.

Is access any better these days after big storms?
 

Al.relics

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Great old ship finds, a nice piece of history brought back to life!!
 

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smokeythecat

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You have to wait until the waters reside, or park at the beach and walk the 5 miles on the beach.
 

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smokeythecat

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Here's a couple more items. 18th Century buttons, 1 is solid silver, probably a broken watch key winder, bits and pieces of ships' brass, some misc. unknown silver, etc. DSCN0109.JPG DSCN0110.JPG
 

Megalodon

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You have to wait until the waters reside, or park at the beach and walk the 5 miles on the beach.

Every beach parking lot and under the inlet bridge was blocked by National Guard, state police or park personnel. I kept returning because they would say "maybe tomorrow..." and when tomorrow came, they recognized me and were polite but still kept me off the beach. I'll try again with a less severe storm and see what happens.
 

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